US8019793B2 - Methodology infrastructure and delivery vehicle - Google Patents

Methodology infrastructure and delivery vehicle Download PDF

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US8019793B2
US8019793B2 US10/367,618 US36761803A US8019793B2 US 8019793 B2 US8019793 B2 US 8019793B2 US 36761803 A US36761803 A US 36761803A US 8019793 B2 US8019793 B2 US 8019793B2
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relationship
methodology
explicit
files
code segment
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US20040162849A1 (en
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Christopher M. Fisher
Hollis H. Moore
Edy S. Cosillo
Barry K. Law
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Accenture Global Services Ltd
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Priority to CA2819485A priority patent/CA2819485C/en
Priority to EP04710867A priority patent/EP1593056A2/de
Priority to CA2516200A priority patent/CA2516200C/en
Priority to AU2004211022A priority patent/AU2004211022B2/en
Priority to JP2006501870A priority patent/JP4898424B2/ja
Priority to PCT/EP2004/001500 priority patent/WO2004072758A2/en
Publication of US20040162849A1 publication Critical patent/US20040162849A1/en
Priority to US11/511,786 priority patent/US20060294157A1/en
Assigned to ACCENTURE GLOBAL SERVICES LIMITED reassignment ACCENTURE GLOBAL SERVICES LIMITED ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Assignors: ACCENTURE GLOBAL SERVICES GMBH
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Priority to JP2011250439A priority patent/JP5762254B2/ja
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
    • G06F16/90—Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
    • G06F16/95—Retrieval from the web
    • G06F16/958—Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to web publishing.
  • the invention may find particular use in web publishing systems that involve highly integrated data containing a high volume of documents with numerous cross-referenced links between the documents.
  • the present invention also relates to the generation of work planning documents.
  • a methodology is a collection of information that explains how to plan, mobilize and execute a certain type of work.
  • a methodology is a specific way of performing a multi-stage operation that implies precise deliverables and/or outcomes at the end of each stage. Deliverables are measurable results or outputs of a process.
  • Deliverables are measurable results or outputs of a process.
  • a methodology defines types of work processes in terms of measurable results.
  • a well-defined methodology generally defines a business organization's best practices for accomplishing a given task and incorporates that organization's terminology. In this way, employees are able to integrate these best practices into their day-to-day handling of tasks.
  • methodologies must be accessible to various levels of employees throughout the organization. Publishing methodologies on an organization's intranet or securely on the Internet makes the methodologies instantly accessible to potentially any authorized individual throughout the world.
  • the invention includes a method for populating a database for use in storing data representative of a methodology.
  • the method comprises (i) providing information files describing an object having a type, an object property and an object explicit relationship; (ii) providing rule files describing a relation between two object types, each relation having a relation property and an explicit relationship definition; (iii) generating at least one Structured Query Language (SQL) command representative of an implicit relationship based on an explicit relationship definition; and (iv) executing at least one generated SQL command on a database.
  • SQL Structured Query Language
  • the invention is a method for publishing documents containing hypertext links to other documents according to defined relationships.
  • the method comprises: (i) preparing information files formatted in XML, with each file representative of an object having an object property and an object explicit relationship; (ii) providing a plurality of rule files formatted in XML describing a relation between at least two objects, each relation having a relation property and an explicit relationship definition; (iii) generating at least one implicit relationship based on at least one of the explicit relationship definitions for relating at least two of the object properties; (iv) applying a rules engine to generate a SQL command representative of one of the object explicit relationships, explicit relationship definitions, or the implicit relationships; and (v) generating a document by populating a presentation template with the object properties identified in the information files and with at least one link to another document, the link being defined by executing the generated SQL command.
  • the invention is a method for providing multiple user-interface access to a methodology comprising: (i) publishing data describing a standardized set of tasks for the methodology in a methodology standards knowledge management repository; (ii) storing standardized project information for the methodology containing hypertext link definitions between the published data; (iii) locating a relevant methodology using a first browser interface; (iv) locating relevant documents within that methodology using a second browser interface accessible for temporally browsing within one methodology; (v) presenting selected documents containing methodology tasks, said selected documents containing links in accordance with the hypertext link definitions to associated data describing other methodology objects such as tasks, inputs and deliverables; (vi) downloading the standardized project information from the knowledge repository related to the selected document; and (vii) generating a project estimate by inputting project estimating parameters and selecting tasks listed in the standardized project information to define a project scope having displayable hypertext links to the in-scope selected tasks.
  • the invention includes a computer system having a computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for populating a database for use in storing data representative of a methodology.
  • the computer program comprises (i) a code segment for retrieving information files describing an object having a type, an object property and an object explicit relationship; (ii) a code segment for retrieving rule files describing a relation between two object types, each relation having a relation property and an explicit relationship definition; (iii) a code segment for generating at least one Structured Query Language (SQL) command representative of an implicit relationship based on an explicit relationship definition; and (iv) a code segment for executing at least one generated SQL command on a database.
  • SQL Structured Query Language
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram representative of the development architecture for a methodology infrastructure in accordance with the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a representation of a metadata model for a relationship configuration file in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIG. 3 is a representation of a metadata model for a hierarchical relationship definition in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIG. 4 is representation of the primary key/foreign key relationships between tables in a relational database in accordance with the methodology infrastructure embodiment of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIG. 5 is a diagram of the data flow of one embodiment of a methodology publishing environment in accordance with the present invention.
  • FIG. 6 depicts a schematic of the end user environment for the methodology infrastructure and delivery vehicle in accordance with the present invention
  • FIG. 8 is a diagram representative of the technical framework for the methodology finder user interface of FIG. 7 ;
  • FIG. 9 is a representative screen shot of a methodology browser user interface in accordance with the present invention.
  • FIG. 11 depicts a schematic of the estimating tool project and work planning report generation system in accordance with the present invention.
  • a development environment 100 is provided for creating static web pages representative of a metadata model created for defining a methodology.
  • a methodology is a collection of information that explains how to plan, mobilize and execute a certain type of work. Defining a methodology typically requires each type of work to be decomposed into elements.
  • elements are defined as objects.
  • Objects can have various types. For example, objects can be defined as activities, tasks or deliverables.
  • a plurality of content files 102 are provided.
  • Each content file 102 is representative of an object/element of the particular methodology being defined. Additionally, the content files 102 are representative of a particular instance of each type of work. Each content file 102 defines an object containing an object type at least one object property and at least one explicit relationship. Each object is representative of a particular instance of the element of the type of work being defined in the current methodology.
  • the object properties define variables associated with an object, while the explicit relationships define links between particular objects. It should be noted that the explicit relationships defined in the content files 102 should not be confused with the explicit relationship definitions discussed below.
  • the rule files 104 define relationships generally. Relationships are defined by properties and explicit relationship definitions.
  • the relationship properties define variables associated with the relationship being defined.
  • the explicit relationship definitions can define how object types interact with one another generally. In one embodiment, these interactions are defined in terms of actions, or relationship operations, that are to be performed when certain conditions are satisfied.
  • the conditions can be based on the properties associated with the relationship being defined, or can incorporate static variables, also known as constants. A variety of conditions are contemplated by the present invention. For example, one condition may be satisfied if two distinct object types are explicitly defined in the content files 102 to have a particular relationship.
  • actions can be dependent on multiple explicit relationships defined in the content files 102 or prefaced on certain property values.
  • the rule files 104 are provided within a hierarchical framework 200 , described in more detail below.
  • the content files 102 and rule files 104 are formatted in extensible markup language (XML).
  • the architecture 100 of the present invention validates the information in the content files 102 with the relationship definitions of the rule files 104 .
  • a transformation/validation utility 106 is provided.
  • the transformation/validation utility 106 reads the information in the content files 102 and verifies the information is proper based on the explicit rule definitions provided in the rule files 104 . For example, assume a content file 102 defines an object A of type B having an explicit relationship of relationship type C with object D. Further assume that object D is of a type E.
  • the transformation/validation utility 106 will read this information from the content file 102 .
  • the validation utility 106 determines if objects of type B can have a relationship of type C with an object of type E by verifying the relationships defined in the rules file 104 . Once verified, the transformation/validation utility 106 generates a link between the two objects to reflect the explicit relationship defined by the content file 102 . Object properties may also be verified. For example, if object type C is invalid, the object property classifying object B as a type C object is incorrect. Additionally, implicit relationships and links are also generated by the transformation/validation utility 106 . For example, an implicit relationship from object D to object B is also generated by the transformation/validation utility 106 , as discussed below. In should be appreciated that more complex explicit relationships and implicit relationships are contemplated by the current invention.
  • the transformation/validation utility 106 represents the explicit and implicit relationships in the form of a Structured Query Language (SQL) command.
  • SQL is a language used to interrogate and process data in a relational database. SQL commands can be used to interactively work with a database or can be embedded within a programming interface to a database.
  • the SQL commands are generated by the transformation/validation utility 106 and stored in the rule files 104 , as described below in reference to FIG. 2 .
  • the transformation/validation utility 106 performs a validation/transformation on each object described in the content files 102 .
  • the transformation/validation utility 106 extracts the data contained in the content files and transforms the data into two components.
  • a methodology inventory file 108 is created, listing each object defined in the content files 102 .
  • the object properties, explicit relationships, implicit relationships and links are entered into a relational database 110 , described in more detail below in reference to FIG. 4 .
  • a publisher utility 112 is provided with an optional configuration file 114 to create static Internet documents, in a known manner.
  • a plurality of presentation templates 116 are provided to define a format for the Internet documents.
  • the publisher utility 112 is adapted to access the relational database 110 and populate various fields in the presentation templates 116 incorporating the various relationships reflected in the database. In this way, the present invention is able to ensure maximum accessibility to a particular methodology, while maintaining enough flexibility to quickly adapt to changes in the methodology's content.
  • FIG. 2 shows an exemplary relationship configuration metadata model 200 in accordance with the development environment 100 embodiment of FIG. 1 .
  • a root element RelationshipConfiguration 202 is provided and assigned a unique Methodology ID.
  • the Methodology ID uniquely identifies the methodology for which the configuration file is used.
  • the methodology infrastructure of the present invention is able to define a different set of relationships and relationship rules for each methodology.
  • the present invention is able to maximize reuse and flexibility in that different methodologies are able to quickly reuse established relationship data while the overall structure is flexible enough to allow entirely new relationships to be quickly incorporated into the metadata model.
  • each RelationshipConfiguration element 202 contains four children elements: AllRelationshipTypes 204 ; ObjectTypeRelationshipDefinitions 206 ; RelationshipRules 208 ; and IndependentRelationshipSets 210 .
  • the AllRelationshipTypes element 204 is a root element of all relationship types. Each relationship type for the unique methodology relationship configuration being defined is listed under the AllRelationshipTypes 204 element. In this manner, a list of valid relationships is easily accessible for validating the explicit relationships defined in the content files 102 .
  • the ObjectTypeRelationshipDefinitions element 206 is a root element of the actual relationship definitions.
  • the ObjectTypeRelationshipDefinitions element 206 comprises an ObjectTypeRelationshipDefinition element 212 for each object type defined in a particular methodology.
  • Each ObjectTypeRelationshipDefinition element 212 comprises a unique object type identifier and may contain children Relationship elements 214 .
  • the object type identifier is representative of the type of object where the relationship being defined starts.
  • each object type should contain several Relationship elements 214 contained under this element.
  • the Relationship elements 214 define the relationships. Typically, relationship names and the types of objects targeted by a relationship are contained in each Relationship element 214 .
  • each Relationship element 214 may contain additional information, such as identifiers to denote whether a relationship is explicit or if it can be copied to another methodology. Additionally, each Relationship element 214 may contain a HierarchyRelationships element 216 , discussed below in reference to FIG. 3 .
  • the Relationship Rules element 208 is the root element for all the relationship rules defined for the current methodology. Depending on the relationships defined in a particular methodology, the Relationship Rules element 208 may have RelationshipRule 218 children elements. Each RelationshipRule element 218 defines a condition and an action to perform when the condition is met. Preferably, several rules are defined for several types of conditions. The RelationshipRule element 218 may have a unique ID for the rule being defined. Additionally, three children elements are defined for each RelationshipRule element 218 : a Variables element 220 ; a RelationshipPatterns element 222 ; and an Action element 224 .
  • the Action element 224 describes the relationship operation to perform when the conditions for a particular rule are satisfied. In one embodiment, the actions can be to create or delete an implicit relationship, depending on the condition(s) specified in the RelationshipPatterns element 222 .
  • the Action element 224 contains one or more Relationship elements 214 . Each Relationship element 214 defines the relationship operation performed, and must contain a relationship type, from object and to object identifier.
  • a “contains by” relationship is a relationship implied by the contains relationship. Assume further that a contains relationship relies on the following variables: from, to, fromType, toType. Finally, assume a relationship pattern for the contains relationship is based on these additional variables (with values or mappings to the contains variables listed above): type (Contains); variableToType (toType); variableFromType (fromType); exists (true); fromObject(from); and toObject(to).
  • the transformation/validation utility 106 may generate the following SQL command having the name “CoreBimRule1P1” to save in a StoredProcedure element 230 . As shown below, the implied “contains by” relationship is either created or deleted if the relationship pattern is satisfied.
  • FIG. 3 shows an exemplary metadata model for representing hierarchical relationship definitions in accordance with the present invention.
  • a HierarchyRelationships element 216 may be contained within a Relationship element 214 .
  • a HierarchyRelationships element 216 is representative of a hierarchical relationship definition.
  • Each HierarchyRelationships element 216 contains one or more ObjectTypeWithHeirarchyRelationships element 300 that each define an object type capable of having a hierarchical relationship.
  • Each ObjectTypeWithHeirarchyRelationships element 300 may contain one or more ObjectTypeRelationshipDefinition elements 212 .
  • the metadata model is able to identify which relationships form the hierarchy.
  • a HierarchyRelationshipsType element 302 is also provided.
  • the HierarchyRelationshipsTypes element 302 is a collection of one or more Relationship elements 304 that define the relationship types that can branch off a parent relationship.
  • FIG. 4 shows the relationships of tables in the relational database 110 of a methodology infrastructure 100 in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 1 .
  • the information contained in the following tables is inserted by the transformation/validation utility 106 .
  • the tables are interrelated via primary key/foreign key relationships.
  • a primary key is an indexed field, or combination of fields, that maintains the primary sequence of the table, while a foreign key is a field in a relational table that matches the primary key of another table.
  • a Methodology table 400 is provided with a primary key field Methodology_ID.
  • Each record in the Methodology table 400 represents a methodology being defined by the architecture 100 .
  • each record in the Methodology table 400 may include root folder information, which defines a physical location for content files defining the methodology, publishing configuration information, relationship configuration information, and inventory information.
  • an NGMC_Object_Type table 402 is provided with a primary key consisting of a combination of the foreign key Methodology_ID field and the NGMC_Object_Type field.
  • the NGMC_Object_Type table 402 represents a collection of standard object types used across multiple methodologies. By providing this table, the present invention is able to maximize efficiency by incorporating standard object types into multiple methodology definitions. Multiple NGMC_Object_Type records can relate to a single methodology record. In other words, one methodology can incorporate multiple standard object types.
  • An Object_Type table 404 is provided with a primary key combination of foreign key Methodology_ID, a foreign key Object_Type field and a Display_Type field.
  • the Object_Type table 404 maintains a record of each methodology specific object type. Each methodology may contain multiple object type definitions.
  • An Object_ID table 406 is provided with a primary key combination of foreign key Methodology_ID and foreign key Object_Type. Each record in the Object_ID table 406 represents a unique object used to define a particular methodology. Additionally, a Counter field representative of the total number of similar objects for a given methodology may be included in the Object_ID table 406 . Each methodology may contain multiple Object_ID table records.
  • An Object_Properties table 408 is provided with a primary key combination of foreign key Methodology_ID and an Object_ID field. Each record in the Object_Properties table 408 represents a unique object used to define a particular methodology. Additionally, multiple fields representative of various object properties for a particular object may be included in the Object_Properties table 408 . In one embodiment, foreign keys Object_Type, Display_Type and Status as well as ID Number, Title, Assigned_To, Reviewer, Due_Date, Cloned_From_ID, Cloned_From_Version, Cloned_From_Methodology, Cloned_Date and Visible fields are all used to define various properties of an object. Each methodology may contain multiple Object_ID table records.
  • a Status table 410 is provided with a primary key Status field. Each record in the Status table 410 represents a possible state for an object defined in the methodology. Multiple objects defined in the Object_Properties table 408 are capable of having the same status.
  • a Relationship_Type table 412 is provided with a primary key relationship combination of foreign key Methodology_ID and a Relationship_Type field. Each record in the Relationship_Type table 412 represents a generic type of relationship for a particular methodology. Each methodology may contain multiple relationship types.
  • a Relationship table 414 is provided with a primary key relationship combination of foreign key Methodology_ID, foreign key From_Object field that references an Object_ID from the Object_Properties 408 table, and a foreign key To_Object field that references a second Object_ID from the Object_Properties 408 table.
  • Each record in the Relationship table 414 represents a specific relationship definition for a particular methodology.
  • the foreign key Relationship_Type may be included in the Relationship table 414 .
  • Each methodology may contain multiple relationships, as can each relationship type defined in the Relationship_Type table 412 .
  • FIG. 5 shows a representation of the data flow of the publishing environment of the development architecture of FIG. 1 .
  • the publisher utility 112 creates static Internet documents by populating fields in presentation templates 116 with data contained in a relational database 110 .
  • the publishing utility 112 writes individual files and organizes these files into a methodology development web site 500 .
  • the methodology development web site 500 is organized into five categories of document types.
  • a collection of Active Server Pages (ASP) content files 502 are provided. This collection contains the content pages for describing methodologies through the multiple interfaces described below. These pages can describe processes, deliverables, job aids, roles, reference materials, entry/exit criteria, organizations, commit points, overviews, lists ordered by type, or other custom HTML pages.
  • ASP Active Server Pages
  • Any attachments or images embedded in the content pages 502 are organized into the attachments collection 504 or images collection 506 , respectively.
  • All documents used to define and implement the navigation structure defined below in reference to the multiple user interfaces are organized into a navigational framework collection 508 .
  • the search collection 510 contains the documents and tools required to perform the search functions described below in reference to the multiple user interfaces.
  • the methodology development web site can be published using a standard publishing tool, such as Front Page Publisher provided by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., to create the product test 520 and staging 530 web sites.
  • a standard publishing tool such as Front Page Publisher provided by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.
  • product test 520 and staging 530 web sites allow developers an opportunity to find errors in the pages and/or content of the documents.
  • the methods development tool which is part of the development and publishing environment 602 , has been described in detail above. But in brief, this is the environment for developing formal and reusable methods either from scratch or reusing existing methods content.
  • the methods development tool allows experienced users to use advanced development functions to rapidly deploy new and updated methodology content.
  • the development and publishing environment is typically only accessible by methods development teams.
  • This environment includes a methods development repository which contains content of both core and specialized methodologies that are structured and formatted to maximize productivity.
  • the technical architecture 800 supporting the methodology finder is depicted in FIG. 8 .
  • the architecture includes web content management system (WCMS) common components 802 .
  • the common components 802 are software components that are shared across several web sites, but can be customized for each web site. These common components include an email component 804 for contacting methodology finder support personnel.
  • Another common component includes the table of contents (TOC) tree navigation hierarchical links 806 .
  • Another common component is the set of people enablement (PE) banner navigational links 808 . These include links to the main utilities 702 and the topical links 704 .
  • Another common component is the set of Lotus Notes links 810 .
  • the Lotus Notes links 810 is a software component designed to allow various web pages to link to specific Lotus Notes database documents.
  • Another common component is the subscription application 812 .
  • the subscription application 812 maintains a database 814 of registered users to particular documents and methodologies maintained by the personnel supporting the methodology finder.
  • FIG. 9 depicts a screen shot of the methods browser user interface 900 .
  • the methods browser user interface 900 includes a similar look and feel as the methodology finder user interface 700 shown in FIG. 7 .
  • One accesses the methods browser user interface 900 typically by selecting a core methodology found in the methodology finder user interface. After selecting a core methodology, the content of the core methodology will appear within the methods browser user interface 900 .
  • the methods browser is a shared interface and architecture for browsing the core methodologies which each focus on a specific domain of work. The methodologies are linked to a repository of sample documents to highly enable users in the scope of client engagements.
  • the methods browser user interface 900 includes a banner-type utility application bar 902 .
  • This utility bar provides access to basic utilities for the site and includes access to the home page for the methodology, can provide a link to bring up the methodology finder 824 in a new window, can display the estimating tool information associated with the current methodology, provide a link to the download page that allows a user to download a local copy of key methodology documents, provides a link to the contact us page for sending feedback or contacting technical support, and also provides a link to the help page.
  • the core methodology is hierarchically decomposed as follows: phase, stage/discipline, major activity, task package, task. Each hierarchy level provides successively narrower and more detailed content.
  • the core methodologies were monolithic documents. It was difficult to find information within any particular methodology. Customizing the methodology was timely and required special content expertise.
  • the hypertext link documents accessible through the methods browser 900 the users can easily find the relevant information in small chunks. The users may more easily and readily then customize and tailor the methodologies for their specific engagements. Within all these specific small chunks, the key to aid the navigability through and between these documents is the metadata model that defines the relationships between these different hypertext links between the documents.
  • a database stores all of the definitions of the relationships between the different documents for generating the hypertext links viewable in the methods browser 900 .
  • the methods browser architecture 1000 also includes common web pages 1012 .
  • the common web pages 1012 are web pages that are shared across several web sites, but can be customized for each web site. These common web pages include the search engine pages 1014 , the feedback page 1016 for contacting technical support, the help support pages 1018 , and the download page 1020 .
  • the methods browser architecture 1000 includes links to integrated applications 1022 .
  • the integrated applications include Microsoft HTML help 1024 in a downloadable version of the methodology.
  • Another application is the enterprise search engine 1026 which provides web crawling access to documents within the enterprise knowledge repositories or external Internet.
  • Another application to which the methods browser is linked is the methodology finder 1028 , which is previously described.
  • another integrated application is the methodology web usage reporting 1030 which provides similar features as the methodology web usage reporting application 850 as described above.
  • a common underpinning of the spreadsheet and work planning documents is the hierarchical listing of the activities, task packages and tasks comprising the project scope. Moreover, the listings include hypertext links to the Methodology Standard Content descriptions 1116 , so that users may readily access detailed content and sample deliverables in support of the project.
  • the Methodology content may reside in the enterprise Methodology Repository 604 ( FIG. 6 ), or may be in the form of a methodology hosted by a project.
  • the model can be used in a variety of ways to aid the user in developing estimates and/or work planning documents.
  • the estimator can be used in conjunction with the methodology, used as a stand-alone project estimator, or used as a base work plan generator.
  • the estimating model is an Excel workbook with one embedded macro and supporting Visual Basic code.
  • the macro is coded in Visual Basic, but other programming languages are contemplated by the present invention for creating the macro.
  • the macro and related Visual Basic Code provides the function that allows the user to export the estimate into other tools including Microsoft Project to create a base work plan.
  • the Estimating Factors worksheets pulls data from the Major Estimating Factors worksheet.
  • the Estimate worksheet pulls data from the Estimating Factors, Major Estimating Factors and Complexity worksheets.
  • the Complexity worksheet pulls data from the Estimating Factors worksheet.
  • the Role Percentage worksheet pulls data from the Estimate worksheet.
  • the Major Estimating Factors are commonly used throughout the estimating model.
  • the data entered in this worksheet are referenced by the corresponding factors in the Estimating Factors worksheet.
  • the Estimating Factors worksheet is used to store the number of units of each estimating factor to be used in the estimate. Some factors are based on the number of units of something within a project scope, such as number of screens or workstations. Some factors are driven by the calculated number of hours to deliver certain tasks.
  • the Complexity worksheet stores values associated with relative complexity of various aspects of the project.
  • the values may represent simple, medium or complex states, or may require a numerical input based on a scale of 1 to 10, for example.
  • the four dependencies are “Finish-to-Start” (task B cannot start until Task A finishes), “Start-to-Start” (task B cannot start until task A starts), “Finish-to-Finish” (task B cannot finish until task A finishes), and “Start-to-Finish” (task B cannot finish until task A starts).
  • the user may modify the dependencies as part of the process of tailoring the estimate for the scope of the project.
  • the Role Percentage worksheet lists the default role mix by percentage for the execution of the task package.
  • each task is defined by default as being completed by a percentage contribution from specific roles in the project. These defaults are based on experiences of prior projects.
  • the information in this worksheet is leveraged when the estimate is exported to the project work plan software to generate role specific work plans with the estimate spread across the associated roles and tasks based on the percentages.
  • the Estimating tool may allow a user to tailor the specific instance of the model to the specific needs of a particular project, yet still retain its functionality.
  • the Estimate worksheet contains by default all the standard task packages and their corresponding tasks for the methodology. Tasks and task packages may be deleted from the worksheet as being outside of the project scope. Preferably, the tasks that are “in scope” are so marked by including an “X” in the In Scope column. This X activates the information in the spreadsheet corresponding to the task or task package as being included for the calculation purposes and work plan generation purposes, while readily allowing a user to see what is not included. Alternatively, out-of-scope tasks may be deleted. Likewise, new tasks may be added to the worksheet, for example when additional reporting activity or additional tasks need to be added to a tasks package due to non-standard circumstances.
  • the spreadsheet is exported into several files, and then selective files are imported and mapped into a Microsoft Project file.
  • Microsoft Project is set up by a mapping file 1102 that is downloaded from the Estimator page in the methodology repository.
  • the mapping file 1102 is opened and copied into Microsoft Project to modify the global.mpt template.
  • the estimating workbook is exported from Excel.
  • the macro is invoked to cause four export files to be created.
  • a first file 1106 is created with three worksheets: a listing of all “in-scope” tasks and tasks packages, a listing of the division of work on a task and task package basis based on information from the role percentage worksheet, and a listing of the roles.
  • the next step is to import the first file 1106 into the Microsoft Project application.
  • the values from the workbook are mapped into appropriate Microsoft Project fields according to the Import map 1110 .
  • This generates a work plan report in Microsoft Project that builds out timelines for each tasks according to the time estimates and the task dependency rules in the Estimating workbook.
  • the work plan may be viewed according to the task hierarchy for the whole project, or may be viewed according to the series of tasks assigned to each role.
  • all the tasks and task packages are listed in the work plan with hypertext links to the underlying methodology documents supporting the tasks.
  • the work plan also lists the key deliverables due for each task.
  • the deliverables may also be available through other means.
  • the fourth file 1120 generated by exporting the Estimating spreadsheet is a custom docbase configuration file that may be used to build a customized document repository for the key deliverables.
  • the docbase configuration file 1120 acts as a filter for the standard Methodology Deliverable Mapping File 1124 so that only the “in-scope” deliverables are uploaded through an installation feature into the BI Designer Documentum web-based published content repository for the project. Also, other means for making work plan specific deliverables accessible to users may be used.

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